This is my favorite time of year to find gadgets for my kitchen. Halloween is obviously the only time of year you can pick up bat chocolate molds and skull cake pans and raven cookie cutters in everyday stores, so I tend to buy ’em if I see ’em. As I’ve mentioned time again… the only problem is finding the time to use them all! Last month I had so much fun making the Black Bat Pancakes that I didn’t want to waste any time trying out my new Halloween Cookie Stamps.
I found these stamps at Homegoods amidst all of their Halloween merchandise. They had quite a few designs, but I chose a skull stamp, a skull & crossbones stamp, and an RIP tombstone stamp. These particular stamps were made by RBV Birkmann, but if you can’t get your hands on these, I have also come across other Halloween Cookie Stamps, like these Nordic Ware Halloween Stamps
Several months ago, I made some Vanilla Almond Skeleton Cameo Cookies. These cookies were a hit!! Funny story…. in the days after I had baked and bagged all of those cookies, I was participating in a garage sale. I had so many cookies that I decided to set up a little table of cookies for sale for 50 cents a piece. I sold out! In fact, there were several shoppers who came back to our sale a second time just to buy more cookies. I passed out cookies to friends and family…. who all LOVED them. Now, I would like to think that anything I bake tastes good, but when something gets a reaction like these cookies did, you make note!! That being said, I decided not to mess with a good thing, and use the same recipe for these Halloween Cookie Stamps! If almond is not your thing, I used a plain Vanilla Sugar Cookie recipe with my Skull Sugar Cookies. That recipe will also work with the stamps.
Now, these cookies turn out amazing right out of the oven, so technically no decorating is necessary, but I wanted to try my hand at adding a bit of color to them. My initial thought was to have an either black or white background and use the alternate color for the design. I ran into a few problems with that approach. For one, the fine details of the stamp require a very fine point pastry bag, as well as detailed precision. I was in NO mood to attempt the tedious task that I knew would be ahead of me. Sometimes a girl just needs a simple win! I am no stranger to diving into tedious, detailed tasks for the sake of a perfect outcome, so as I contemplated whether or not to give myself a pass on this one, it dawned on me that creating a two tone skull on these cookies completely defeated the purpose of using the stamp. I can use icing on a basic flat cookie, and create any design I want. Why not take advantage of the design that the stamp provides?!
To decorate these cookies, I opted for a simple flood icing washed across the cookie. It gave a nice color, and highlighted the imprint of the stamp design. The icing can be made in any color to fit with whatever stamp you use. I opted to created a mix of black and white cookies.
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Here’s what you’ll need to make these cookies:
- Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookie Dough (See recipe below)
- Cookie Stamp(s) – If you can’t find the ones I used, here are a few other stamps I found: (Nordic Ware Halloween Stamps
, 16 pc Halloween Set , Skull & All Seeing Eye Set)
- Round Cookie Cutter
- Royal Icing (See recipe below)
- Black Gel Food Coloring
- Pastry Brush
Follow the recipe below to make the cookie dough.
Working in small batches, roll the dough on a floured surface
Using a cookie cutter, cut circles out of the dough and place on a cookie sheet
Press the stamp firmly onto the circle of dough
Note: you’ll have much better results with the stamp imprint when working with a firm piece of dough. If the dough becomes too pliable, the imprint is not as defined. This is why I work in small batches at a time. As I cut the dough, I place the remnants back in the fridge to firm back up while I work on the next few cookies.
Bake the cookies, and allow to cool completely.
For the icing, I made a Royal Flood Icing. Follow the recipe below to make the icing.
If you plan to make some black and some white cookies, separate the icing into separate bowls. Whichever icing you are not working with immediately, cover the bowl with a wet towel to prevent a crust forming on the outer layer.
To achieve the black icing, add a few drops of black gel food coloring until you achieve the desired color. The icing is naturally white, so no additions are necessary for the white cookies. The icing can be made in any color, so if you are using a pumpkin stamp, perhaps replace the black gel color with orange gel color.
Start adding water, 1/2 tbsp at a time until the icing has a shampoo like consistency.
Using the pastry brush, brush the icing across the top and sides of the cookie. Be sure to flood the indentions of the imprint with the icing. You’ll notice that on some cookies, I left the icing a bit heavy for a whiter cookie, and on others, I brushed most of the icing away to allow the imprinted design to stand out. Up to you!
Allow the icing to completely harden.
Enjoy these cookies with a cold glass of milk, serve them at a Halloween party, or even wrap them up as gifts!
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- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Confectioner's Sugar
- 1½ tbsp Meringue Powder
- ⅛ cup Warm Water
- ¼ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract (non oil based)
- Combine butter and brown sugar with electric mixer until fluffy
- Beat in egg, vanilla,and almond extract
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt
- Add flour mixture ½ cup at a time
- Blend thoroughly
- Knead into a ball, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
- Roll dough on a lightly floured surface
- Cut with a round cookie cutter
- Use a stamp to imprint a design
- Bake 12 minutes
- Cool on rack
- Use a Paddle Attachment
- Mix Sugar and Powder
- Add Vanilla
- Add Water a little bit at a time
- Mix on medium-high for about 7 minutes
- To create flood icing, add water until icing reaches a shampoo consistency
- Brush the icing across the cookies to decorate
- Enjoy
Now I have to try the stamps again! I used a roll of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, and it was a total failure. I’ll definitely use your recipe and method. Thanks for posting this!lis
Hi Lisa! I’ve had really good success with this particular recipe holding it’s shape with cookie stamps and cutters. Good luck with your second attempt with the stamps!!
It’s official. I need the skull and crossbones stamp! Thank you also for a great cookie recipe. I’ll have to try this all out!
🙂
I was actually in Homegoods two days ago, and they had gotten a new shipment in of those stamps! I have a ceramic one with a skull & crossbines that I picked up 2 years ago, and the one from Homegoods is way better!! 🙂
your blog very informative.